A 3-year-old Minnesota boy could not wait one more second.
His mom had just returned from nine months of military service in Afghanistan and was standing in line with her fellow soldiers, waiting to be dismissed.
While she was still standing at attention, her son broke free and rushed into her arms, a huge smile on his face.
His unbridled act of joy melted the hearts of the crowd.
One day soon, we will experience this joy of our reunion with our Savior Jesus Christ.
In Titus 2:13, we read this:
“looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus.”
The phrase “looking for”, has the idea of “eagerly and expectantly waiting or anticipating something to happen.”
Here it is the “the blessed hope” or the Rapture.
The idea is we are to get excited about the time the Lord comes to catch us out of here.
The phrase “the blessed hope” means “a confident expectation of a prosperous future.”
The Rapture is called “the blessed hope” because it is our confident expectation for the future that it will be truly prosperous for us when we leave this world and go to be with our God and Savior Jesus Christ.
When the future meeting with Christ in the air takes place, we will see Him face-to-face and will be totally and permanently removed from sin’s presence in our lives.
Are we eagerly and expectantly looking forward to His return?
At the end of the book of Revelation, Christ said, “Yes, I am coming soon!” John responded “Amen!” Come Lord Jesus!”
A new pastor had just begun his sermon. He was a little nervous, and about ten minutes into the talk his mind went blank.
He remembered what they had taught him in seminary to do when a situation like this would arise-repeat your last point.
Oftentimes, this would help you remember what was coming next. So, he thought he would give it a try. “Yes, I am coming soon!” he said.
Still his mind was blank. He thought he would try it again, “Yes, I am coming soon!”
Still nothing. He tried it one more time with such force that he fell forward, knocking the podium to one side, tripping over a flowerpot, and falling into the lap of a little old lady in the front row.
The young pastor apologized and tried to explain what happened. “That’s alright, young man,” said the little old lady. “It was my fault. I should have gotten out of the way. You told me three times that you were coming.”
Jesus Christ is coming!
And. we have been told a whole lot more than 3 times in the Bible that He is coming.
Therefore, the responsibility for being ready rests with us.
In 1 John 3:2-3 it is put this way:
“Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But, we do know that we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as He is pure.”
Do we have that excitement for the Rapture?
Or do we have too many things we want to do yet here on earth?
If we are excited about being caught up into His Presence, then we will be growing in Christ and becoming more like Him through the Holy Spirit’s power.
Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!
Pastor Ken Keeler, Director of Church Ministries
Love the teaching!
Amen!
Love the idea that His return could be anytime…
Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus!
Thanks John! I always love teaching on prophetic themes, since 1/4 of the Bible was prophecy when written. Prophecy that has already been fulfilled was meant to build our faith in a God Who controls history and gives us hope that our future is great!